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With Coronavirus Lockdown Over, Wuhan Residents Wrangle With Being
Stigmatized

Joyce Huang

   The lifting of the lockdown in Wuhan, China, the original epicenter of
   the coronavirus pandemic, has allowed most healthy residents to travel
   outside of the city limits since April 8.

   But many Wuhan residents are finding that when they travel, or look for
   jobs in other places, they aren't always welcome. The city has acquired
   a stigma from being associated with COVID-19, the disease caused by the
   coronavirus.

   "There are all kind of unwritten rules which discriminate against and
   reject people from Wuhan as well as those from the province of Hubei,"
   a Wuhan resident told VOA on social media. The resident asked to be
   identified only as "Mr. Yang" for safety reasons. Wuhan is the capital
   of Hubei province.

   Even in the city of Yiwu -- 700 kilometers east of Wuhan -- factory
   operators who are hiring workers for their newly-established face mask
   assembly lines are biased against migrant workers from Hubei, according
   to a wholesaler there.

   "If you don't know them in person, many will hold back on hiring
   strangers from Wuhan. No priority will be given to them. There's no
   shortage of labor. Why should we hire those from there?" Eric Lin, a
   trader who also owns a factory in Yiwu, told VOA.

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